Stella Public House

I’ve been here before and have had exceptional service sad to say tonight the bartender and his little friend were absolutely inadequate and not accommodating. They ruined my experience for this place completely.

Love this place. The open concept is refreshin, especially when the days are beautiful which is always in SD. The Eastvillage Chicken sandwich is my favorite. Service is great, chill staff, always pleasant.

Open for brunch now on weekends !!! This place is so dog friendly huge plus
Also Stephen my server recommend the eggs Benedict … Best I’ve ever had nice spice to the hollandaise sauce .
Really just a great brunch and look forward to coming back soon ;-)
Have to try dinner … Stephen was great

I went to Stella on New Years Day. I was hungover, I was starving and I looked like a hot mess. Our waiter, Ryan, was beyond amazing. It was very busy with fellow brunchers but he was still attentive and constantly had a smile on his face. We stayed at brunch for quite a while and Ryan kept making sure that we were happy and had everything we needed. The food was great, Ryan was great and by the time I went home I was much happier. Kudos to you, Ryan. Stella is lucky to have you.

What kinda night is it gonna be? Your call! Great place with both a café AND a bar + decent food, and a patio with chairs surrounding fire pits, and nice views for an establishment on ground level… It’s like the owners were undecided, so they actualized all their ideas, and made it one, big, awesome place. The bar and café is divided but both sides seemed to carry good ambiences, appropriate for that side.
My first impression was… For a spot like this, it wasn’t very busy. But No complaints here. Wait staff was really attentive, bartender was personable and super honest and funny about drink recommendations (good beer options). It was really chill here, but cool city vibe with an open view of the Coronado bridge and city lights. Good spot for any size
group.
There’s a great little grassy area called Pinnacle on the Park with art installations and swings worth checking out around the corner.
Surrounding area can be a little sketch, but not bad.
I’ll be back.

I really love this place but the last time I came here the service was just not as good. It took over 10 minutes for someone to come to our table. We were just sitting there looking around…
Regardless, the food is amazing. The pizza, truffle Mac n cheese, and salads are all good. Great ambiance as well.

Stunning restaurant with equally stunning views while you dine either outside or in. You’re restricted mostly to pizza with a selection of small plates and some salads. Pizza’s are on the thinner side at 18 inches (about 8 slices per pizza). We ordered three between 6 people and were able to finish almost everything (without feeling overly stuffed), so I’d say a pizza between 2 people is definitely doable. We had the following:
1) Quattro — extra cheesy with 4 different kinds! The sausage and balsamic drizzle added a good balance to mellow out the cheesiness.
2) Prosciutto and Arugula — A mountain of sliced meat and cheese! Cannot complain there. That truffle oil though. With all those ingredients? A winner!
3) Spicy Italian Fennel — Not too spicy, only a tinge. Herbal characteristic a little different from the others.
My constant gripe between all three pizza’s though would be the crust. Each pie’s crust was overly burnt (blackened) and dry. At some point, we were dipping it into some tomato sauce. Others were slathering it in the spicy oil too (which the server had provided and recommended). Everyone went crazy over this oil, but I’m not a fan of spice, so I skipped it.
We also had the Lamb Meatballs as a small plate. The tomato sauce on top was simple, but the meatballs themselves were so DENSE in both flavor and texture. They were served in a small cast iron pan (beware, it’s hot!) with about 7 meatballs in it. Perfect portion between three people I’d say.
Stella also offers a wide range of craft beer options — 30 handles! The selection isn’t too bad and we each were able to easily find something we liked. The menu was simplified for the not so avid drinker and separated each beer by style to make ordering easier. It looks like they also have an excellent happy hour. It’s M-​F from 3−6pm — $ 2 off beer, 50% off small plates, $ 5 for wine, and $ 5 for well drinks! Sounds like a deal to me!
Great experience here although still a little turned off by their crust. Some also might be dissatisfied with their thin pizza’s. While I enjoyed it, I would still stick to Urbn, BLAH, or Pizza Port for gastropub pizza.

Super stoked on location, ambience, and food. The pizza is amazing, good beer and wine list, European feel with shared tables but they also have small tables. Will definitely revisit this place!

Stella Public House and its sister business Halcyon were businesses that I fell in love with at first sight and confirmed by first bite. I remember having quite the fixation on one particular item — tableside smores — and when I finally got to sample these smores with fellow SD elite at an Elite event (
), I knew I just had to come back here with the right group of people. Fast forward through most of 2015 and my high school friends decide to get together again for a mini reunion after not seeing each other for at least a year. As I’m known to most of my friends as the person who prides in my restaurant choices I knew immediately where to take them.
CONCEPT: Executive chef Giovanni Novella (of Isola Pizza Bar fame) brings forth the San Diego iteration of two very popular restaurants in Texas. Stella is known for applying their «farm to table» approach to their wood-​fired pizzas. The pizzas are baked in an Italian Modena oven using oak and pecan wood. The result is a thin pizza with a crunchy crust and chewy interior. It’s one of the best interpretations of a wood-​fired pizza I’ve tried in SD.
VENUE: Located along East Village where it straddles the line between the gentrified part and the… um, less gentrified part of SD. One block in the wrong direction and you’ll see lots of homeless people. Don’t let this stop you from going but please be careful choosing parking.
There’s indoor and outdoor seating. There’s some space in the bar, more bar tables and stools towards the back and comfortable patio seating. Due to the winter weather we couldn’t utilize patio seating all that much.
SERVICE: A little slow but the waiters were nice. They also brought items from nearby Haclyon if you are eating at Stella. See «Dessert».
For drinks there’s a constantly-​changing list of over 30 beers on tap. They’re also known for their beer cocktails.
SMALL PLATES. My recommended 3. BTW these are also the best 3 selling appetizers.
— Lamb Meatballs (topped with spicy tomato sauce and parmesan, $ 10). It is not as gamey as I would think for any lamb meat. With the huge heaping of tomato sauce the meatball is quite moist. This can compete with even any beef meatball dish.
— Wild Mushroom Mac & Cheese (local mushrooms, smoked gouda and parmesan cheese finished with truffle oil, $ 10). I love smoked gouda and I love it even more melted into macaroni and cheese, one of my favorite comfort foods. There’s a good amount of truffle oil but it goes well with the smoked gouda. Mushrooms are cooked just right.
— Arancini (fried risotto with salami & parmesan served with marinara sauce, $ 10). The arancini is crisp and the risotto is piping hot, just the way I like it. It is also quite cheesy, also just the way I like it.
PIZZA — I recommend on 2 – 3 pizzas depending on the size of the group and how many small plates you get. Get at least one meat and one veggie/​meatless pizza to balance.
For the meat pizza my recommendation is the Spicy Italian Fennel (tomato sauce, house-​made Italian fennel sausage, mozzarella and calabrian peppers, $ 15) over the Quattro (I recommend getting the meatball as the appetizer). The primary meat is this slightly spicy fennel sausage with calabrian peppers — it adds sustenance to the pizza but is not a meat overload like the Quatro Carne, which feels and tastes like it just has too much meat.
For the meatless pizza my recommendation is the Burrata and Pomodorini (white pizza with cherry tomatoes, fresh burrata and arugula, $ 16). It is their take on white pizza. The burrata is very creamy and complements the sweet cherry tomatoes and the bitter arugula. The quattro looks like it has lots of cheese for the sake of cheese.
DESSERT. I *strongly* recommend deviating from Stella’s menu and getting dessert from Halcyon — namely their tabelside smores, Halcyon’s signature dessert ($ ⁶⁄₂ people or $ ⁹⁄₄ people). Don’t worry, your party doesn’t have to move next door as they’ll bring the smores to you. The setup is like a lazy Susan with all the smores ingredients with a burner that looks like it would be used in hookah as the flame source. It is my recommended way to have the smores experience without having your hands too close to the fire pit, which is what happens in bonfires. I would go back here *just* for those smores and the lazy Susan smore setup is something I’ll add to my future wedding registry. It seals the deal for my ideal «group dining experience» and is currently my top dessert item in any SD restaurant.
It goes without saying I now have a quick and easy answer for a budget-​friendly restaurant option for a small-​medium sized group. Within 5 seconds my answer will be «Stella Public House».

We came here for my boyfriend’s birthday with a small group of friends and all I can say is wow! I was a little reluctant to visit since the first time hearing about this place was when browsing through the SD Beer Week events. We sat in the patio area where we could view the Coronado Bridge and the park below. It had a great ambiance and feel to the place. It was the perfect restaurant to celebrate his 30^th. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few guests with their dogs and plan on bringing mine next time.
The staff was awesome and friendly. The beer selection was way more than we could hope for and everyone had a great time. What more could you ask for? Oh the food! That’s right. Everything is pretty much small plates and pizza. Their pizza has around 8 pieces each and their menu is viewable on-​line. We ordered a variety of pizza and those lamb meatballs… The best part though? That spicy oil sauce thing. It was sooo good.
I’m not sure if there are any nearby parking lots but we did find street parking easily. Also, they do take reservations if you have 10 or more people in your party.

This is a very chill and fun place to hang out on a nice night. The service is great and the space is big and open.
The food was also very good and easy to share. We ordered the brussel sprouts and lamb meatballs to start, and both had a lot of flavor. They also have white and red pizzas that are a little bigger than a personal size. There were four people in our party and that was enough for a light late dinner.

The best macaroni & cheese I’ve ever had. Cheesy with mushrooms. Nice little spot hidden in DT… Well not hidden, it’s away from the main strips of DT but it’s on the new park. Mainly Outdoor patio seating. Nice view of the tallest SD building. Pizza is ok. I recommend the chocolate mouse salted caramel for dessert.

This review is for the service, ambiance of Stella Public House during brunch hours. Please see my review of the food served here (from the menu of Halcyon, their sister lounge next door) that is served during brunch time over the weekend. A new review will be followed up once I’ve had the chance to have the Stella Public House menu. But since brunch was served at Stella Public House, here I go!
Stella Public House, is open for brunch during the weekends at 10 am! Currently, you will not find that on the website. Stella Public House and Halcyon share the same kitchen and during the weekend brunch times, Stella is open for brunch using Halcyon’s menu. They play the CHARGER’s game here! There is one small TV with surround sound and you can hear the game the whole time.
The ambiance is amazing, it is open air style with windows all around. There are clean bathrooms downstairs or outside. It overlooks East Village of downtown and because it isn’t in the heart of downtown, parking during brunch times are plentiful. There is a large population of bums populating the area, but if you don’t mess with them they won’t mess with you.
The food served was from the Halcyon menu. Halycon and Stella Public House share the same kitchen since they literally share the same building. Brunch was actually fantastic. Small amount of choices, but something to please everyone. Prices was very fair, and it was nice being able to sit on the Stella side watching the game. More in depth food review of Halcyon here:
. Half of the tables were covered, half was uncovered tables outside.
If you are looking for a beautiful place to sit down, have a few drinks and a light brunch watching the game. this is for you! It is more low key than your typical loud brunch bar.
Service was on point, and the pizza menu was calling my name. In the worlds of Arnold… I’ll be back!

Stopped by for their happy hour last night with a girlfriend and had a glass of wine and the Stella House Salad with chicken.
Happy hour is awesome because all glasses of wine are $ 5 and the small plates are all $ 2 off.
The salad came with mixed greens, walnuts, pears, cranberries, gorgonzola, and honey mustard vinaigrette. I added some chicken for protein. The salad was amazing and I’ve had some not so good honey mustard vinaigrettes, but this one was amazing. The salad was the perfect portion for a light, but filling, dinner. I’ll definitely come back and pick up a salad for lunch.

The neighborhood is getting better… so do not let that keep you away… This place is phenomenal… and the patio is one of the best in town. You will love sitting out there and enjoying the evening sky.
We walked in the door this past Saturday night and were immediately greeted by the charming host… I had been told by a friend to ask for the manager, and when I introduced myself he knew to expect us. Mark (aside from spelling his name wrong) was also so warm and friendly and treated us amazingly well from the get go.
Our server, Stacy was also fantastic… She made great suggestions, spot on in fact… was really sweet and helpful and was there when you needed her and smart enough to give us space, too.
Staff… top notch.
Atmosphere… really great.
And the food and drink… Well… I am still thinking about it and want to go back. Too bad I live in LA!
I started with a Benchmark Brown… it was on the Happy Hour special and was really tasty. Thanks, Stacy. I switched to an Archer Double Ale after that, which was great for the warm night.
We had the Wild Mushroom Mac & Cheese with Smoked Gouda and Parmesan and Truffle Oil. Oh man… Creamy, rich, flavorful… so delicious.
The Brussels Sprouts, roasted with pancetta, shaved ricotta and in a red wine vinaigrette reduction sauce were spectacular… with such a unique and tangy flavor. We tried to guess what was in the sauce… and were so wrong!
The Asparagus Wrapped in Speck and served with a Fried Egg was also farm fresh and delicious.
The Arugula Salad with Beets, Farro, Blue Cheese, Walnuts and a Lemon Dressing was easily enough for two to share and totally fresh and wonderful.
Mark sent us over some of the Chef’s Foccacia, which was great because we got too full for a pizza… and we saw many go by and they all looked amazing… and cooked absolutely perfectly with just the right char on the crust.
Then Chef Gio came out and insisted we try his homemade Organic Mozzarella, which was truly some of the best I have ever had. He served it like the Caprese Salad, with a slice of Heirloom Tomato, hydroponic Basil purée and fresh leaves and some Olive Oil. The texture… the flavor… stunningly perfect, allowing his Naples roots to shine through.
Of course we had to have some dessert, since he started as a pastry chef… and so we had the Budino (Chocolate with Sea Salt Caramel and Whip Cream)… Come on! Man, that was ridiculously good!
There was not a single miss… It was a truly perfect evening and everything was absolutely wonderful. I really can’t wait to come back!

So I guess this review is actually for Stella public house which is on the other side of the patio here but connected. I’ve been here a couple times now and always have a great experience. My only complaint is that it takes a little while for the food to come out but they are making everything from scratch and baking the pizzas to order so I can understand that.
If you are looking for something with views that can’t be beat this is the perfect place. At night the Coronado bridge is lit up as a beautiful backdrop. Their outside seating allows for your pup to come along as well as comes with heat lamps for those nights it gets a little chilly.
Everything I’ve had to eat here has been above average. Big tip: ask for their homemade chili oil for your pizza– this chili oil is so orgasmic it makes my mouth salivate like my dog biscuit staring at me eat thinking about it. It goes so good with everything actually! I’ve had their Caesar salad with smoked salmon and I have to say that is the best Caesar I’ve had– with homemade croutons, dressing, grated strips of parmesan, fresh slices of smoked salmon, and anchovies– it seriously can’t be beat– why not toss some of that spicy chili oil on this too to really cry tears of joy.
I came here after comic con yesterday and ordered their special pizza of the day– the eggplant came shaped with batman and superman slices on it!!! It made me so happy ! Oh yeah can’t forget about their drinks– all hand crafted amazing Moscow mule and fun beer cocktail choices. They also have a great beer selection with alpine and alysium choices– not that I drink beer. But I heard those are popular. Their prices are a little on the high side for $ 10 you get a truffle mushroom Mac and cheese which is not very large but packed with flavor. That won’t deter me from coming back though because for the location/​view, the fact that everything is house made and on point, and that they’re dog friendly– this is now added to a go to spot for guests from out of town now.

Stella Public House is a great new addition to East Village. I have been here several times and everything has always great! Good service and tasty food.
The best time to come here is for happy hour if you are looking for a deal. This is more of a casual restaurant/​pizza place. The apps are $ 10-​$ 11 and my favorites are the Brussel Sprouts and truffle mac and cheese. The apps are great but the portions are a little small in my opinion. All of the salads are $ 11 except for the house salad which is $ 8. I really enjoyed the arugula salad and the Caprese. Now on to the good stuff… pizza! I have tried all of their wood fired pizzas and all of them are amazing and I consider myself a pizza aficionado. The pizzas are good for one or two to share depending on how hungry you are. The crust is nice and crunchy and the amount of sauce is perfect! My favorites are the prosciutto and arugula, the burrata and pomodorini, and the Quattro. The pizzas range from $ 13 — $ 17.
I love that there is the option of indoor and outdoor seating. You can also bring your pup and sit on the patio.

I have to admit I really like it here, and not just because the food is so wonderfully prepared. This is a beautiful space in an overlooked part of town. When I used to have to come down here for work years ago, I never would’ve imagined this spot, where I once rousted clients and narrowly missed getting vomited on as we cuffed them, that it would be a place I’d enjoy so throughly.
I got my introduction to Stella at a Unilocal event a couple months ago. The owners were on hand greeting everyone and they generously shared many of their small plate offerings and several different pizzas for us to try. Everything I sampled was delicious. I wish I could say that about everyplace I eat at, but it’s only happened for me a handful of times. This is why I’ve sent friends here to try this place and why I came back.
We came by on Saturday evening and grabbed seats at the bar. It was fairly crowded, but there were still a couple tables left. Sitting at the bar turned out to be a great decision as we had excellent service there and were able to watch chef Giovanni creating the pizzas.
Ohh the cocktails. Everyone focuses on the extensive amount of craft beers on tap here, and that some of the selections are unusual. Cool. I came for the cocktails. I had an unspecified number of the Lemon Basil Whiskey Sours, and they were delightful. I also sampled my companions variation of this drink with blueberries. Geez. I mean, he did offer to switch drinks with me, but I’m not that greedy, well not until later. I also sampled a watermelon beer that was really tasty, I can’t remember the name, I’m pretty bad at beers. Later on in the evening though, our fantastic bartender, Giancarlo, suggested a drink for my companion and I ended up stealing half of that one. It was a Pendergast and it had a distinctive flavor and smell to it from the orange rind. I’m blaming it on the orange rind.
We ended up sharing small plates. We both knew there were going to be lamb meatballs consumed. We also opted for the arancini. These were two dishes I had previously enjoyed. Next time I will have to try something new, along with the meatballs, of course.
If you haven’t been to Stella Public House yet, what are waiting for? Get down there now! Start sampling some of the small plates and try a tasty pizza today. And try the panna cotta, the berries are soaked in champagne.

Stella is the new neighborhood hot spot in the East Village. With an open patio dining atmosphere that’s shared with their sister shop Halcyon, the space creates an inviting, fresh scene to enjoy your meal.
After attending a successful Unilocal event, I returned to Stella on the night they teamed up with Ben & Jerry’s for a community event and served up the same, great food I’d tried before. In addition, the kitchen made a special menu item of dark chocolate, honey biscuits, and ice cream as additional dessert. John, the owner even remembered some of the Unilocal faces and greeted us warmly for coming back.
As for the business itself, the rest of the staff were always attentive and helpful. Everything I’ve tried from the menu was delicious including the various pizzas (wonderful ingredients as toppings), the Caprese Salad (love the pesto on the side), and the Lamb Meatballs (probably the best meatballs I’ve had in recent memory).
With fantastic food and superb service, Stella has easily become one of the first place I’ll consider going to when I’m around EV. I’m looking forward to the completion of the park adjacent to the restaurant, which will no doubt draw more customers to the business!

14^th and Island? Who’d have imagined people coming so far East to eat pizza and have a drink? And who’d spend time, energy and money on the chance they could make that happen? The owners of Stella Public House and Halcyon, that’s who.
[n.b. Stella Public House and Halcyon are sister establishments; from here, I’ll use «Stella» to refer to the pair of businesses]
Stella is set in a cool half-​glass box that’s part of East Village’s work-​in-​progress Pinnacle condo complex. The development will include San Diego’s tallest residential towers, containing hundreds of residential units, and will incorporate an as-​yet unnamed park that, because it sits on a fault line, is space that literally can’t support much else.
Lucky Stella. The restaurant’s 1,500-square-foot outdoor patio will back directly onto that greenspace.
The bar and restaurant are so well-​integrated to the large patio that I am reminded of barbecue joints in Texas that don’t really have an «inside», but instead expect you do to most of your celebrating out of doors, while they provide a simple sheltered space for when the rain comes.
Beautiful Stella is similarly open, but more accommodating, offering high tops, couches and Adirondack chairs, plus group seating at gorgeous butcher block tables made by Upland, CA’s Kage Design Studio. The patio, in particular, encourages laughter and movement and an end-​of-​the-​day appreciation of the view and of one’s companions.
Moreover, Stella’s furnishings, art and architecture– inside and out — are remarkably appealing, comfortable and well-​combined, and therein lies a surprise: according to GM Jon Wantz, instead of hiring a design firm, Stella’s co-​owner, Kris Hardy, did the work herself.
Why a surprise? Well, Kris isn’t a professional interior designer. She’s a Wharton MBA, former muckety-​muck at Dell and the Boston Consulting Group, and currently a high-​end business consultant in Austin, TX. And, because none of that is difficult, Kris took a minute and designed a restaurant whose layout and decoration will surely win awards.
So Kris and business partner John Long (another Wharton MBA, another surprise) chose a run-​down, up-​and-​coming location and dressed it with a casual elegance that Pinnacle’s thousands of tenants will appreciate.
Smart Stella. How smart? Well, the partners enticed Little Italy’s best chef to run their kitchen. Or, if «best» seems hyperbolic, how about «best-​in-​class»?
Executive Chef Giovanni Novella is a masterful pizzaiolo, and, since Stella offers more than pizza — including dishes like Arancini and Wild Mushroom Mac & Cheese that are similar to specialties Chef Giovanni created at Isola Pizza Bar — his experience, deft hand and artist’s eye uniquely qualify him to manage the very specific menu that the owners brought from Texas. Chef Giovanni isn’t just a cook; he’s an asset.
Rice balls and mushroom mac are among the many delicious dishes that I have enjoyed at Stella. Some others include:
— Lamb Meatballs, which Serious Eats recently listed among its «9 Stand-​Out Meatballs Across the Country», saying: «They’re just about perfect topped with vibrant tomato sauce…;»
— Caprese Salad: perfectly ripened, sweetly acidic tomatoes, thickly sliced and beautifully layered with mozzarella served just moments after it was made;
— Luscious Margherita Pizza, mildly-​flavored, with a soft but substantial crust that Chef has mentioned using for bread for his own table;
— Spicy Italian Fennel Pizza that provided nice bites of fennel sausage, fiery Calabrian peppers and that crust;
— A wonderfully smooth and rich Panna Cotta topped with diced, champagne-​soaked berries;
— Halcyon’s Tableside S’mores, the mechanics of which, since I was never a Girl Scout, I had explained to me as I «cooked» my dessert;
— An «Espresso Chocolate Martini» made with Stolichnaya’s Stoli® Vanil, chocolate Godiva liqueur and house espresso that doesn’t really need vodka to be a success;
— Many, many Lemon Basil Whiskey Sours.
(To the Chef: Please add your spicy and seductive Gamberetti Alla ‘Nduja to Stella’s menu. I’m sure Isola won’t mind.)
How good is Stella? Irresistible. I’ve eaten one meal at a lot of restaurants and have waited years to return, but I first tried Stella seven days ago, and I’m taking my Beloved there today, as soon as I post this review.
******************************
Pinnacle Towers:
Kage Design Studio:
Isola Pizza Bar:
Serious Eats — 9 Stand-​Out Meatballs Across the Country: